Secret code

Marcy has a date to a upcoming prom. She and her friend Diana had made a secret code, so Marcy wrote a secret note to Marcy. Marcy's dad came in hours later and found the note that Marcy wrote. The boy's name that was on the note was smeared out. The note said:
Dear Diana,
??? asked me to the dance!
From,
Marcy

A few days later, Marcy brought up the secret note up to her Dad and asked to see if he could translate the name of the boy. It was the same note as the other one Marcy's Dad had read a few days before. The note said:
V)*. V~*=*,
~*= *$#v)v +) d\\ d@) v*=])!
C.\\+,
+*.]2

A few days later, Marcy's Dad came up to her and told her the boy's name. It was Ian. Marcy was shocked! How did Marcy's Dad know?

Answer

Marcy's dad knew because he used the other note with the boy's name smeared out. The note was the same, so the letters in the old note would be the unknown symbols. The "i" in Diana would be the first letter in the boy's name because it was in the smeared spot. He knew it was "i" because the "i" in Diana had the same symbol as the letter in the boy's name. The boy's first letter in his name was I. The "a" in dance would be the second letter because in "dance" in the secret letter, it was the same symbol as the second letter. He did the same with the "n" because the "n" in Diana had the same symbol as the last letter in the boy's name.Hide